Frequently asked questions

Practical answers about accounts, devices, the Hall of Fame, skins, BTCX rewards and privacy. The rules of the game itself, with all their numbers, are in the guide.

Getting started

Is kolonie free? Do I need an account?

It costs nothing, and there is no sign-up: no e-mail address, no password, no download. A name is optional. It can be up to 24 characters long, and the server cuts anything longer.

Which devices and browsers work?

Current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge, on computers, tablets and phones. Every dish runs on the server, so you need a steady connection. A round uses about 10 KB of data per second, roughly 35 to 40 MB per hour, which matters on a mobile plan.

How do I brake or turn?

Press on the side you are flying toward: the mass goes forward and you slow down. To curve left, press to the right of your colony, and the other way round. Short taps are enough, and the guide lists what each push costs.

A grey colony took me in. Wasn't it my size?

Grey only means “within 2 %”, not “equal”. Whichever of you is heavier by even a fraction wins, so a grey colony is as dangerous as a pale red one. Stay clear until one of you has clearly grown.

How long does a round take?

There is no clock. A round ends when one colony holds 40 % of the dish's mass, or when so much has burnt or escaped that nobody can get there any more. The next dish, of the same arena type, starts 15 seconds later. If you are taken in, you can go again at once.

Can I choose the arena?

Yes. The start screen and the end-of-round screen show a button for each of the six arenas with the number of players in it. Play puts you into the dish that fits best. When a dish is full with 20 colonies, a new one of the same arena opens.

Who are the other colonies?

Players and bots. Bots fill the seats nobody is using, and a dim “bot” label after the name tells them apart. How they think is described in the guide.

How does the Hall of Fame work?

It shows the ten biggest colonies of the day, from all dishes. To get in, a colony needs at least 18,000 units of mass, three times what it starts with. Each player gets one entry per round, at the biggest mass reached in it. The list is cleared at midnight, Berlin time; until someone qualifies it reads “No runs yet today”.

What is the daily challenge?

One task a day for everyone, such as reaching a mass with as few pushes as possible, with a list of the day’s best attempts on the start screen. The exact rules are in the guide.

How do I play with a friend?

Tap Invite a friend and send the link: it puts your friend into your dish. What happens when the dish is full is in the guide.

What happens when the game is updated?

If anyone is playing, the update is announced in the game 5 minutes ahead, with a countdown. The restart itself takes a few seconds, and then you can start a new round.

Can I turn off the sound?

Yes: the Sound button on the start screen, the speaker icon during a round, or the M key. The game remembers your choice.

Skins, BTCX and rewards

How do skins work?

A skin shows a picture of your choice on your colony, for everyone in your dish. It is unlocked with a one-time payment of 15 BTCX to the address in the Skins panel, which counts after two confirmations. Pictures are scaled to 256 × 256 pixels and may be up to 200 KB; you can upload up to 10 new ones per hour. To unlock another device, paste the same transaction ID there. Skins are cosmetic and change nothing in the game.

What happens when a picture is reported?

Once five different players have reported a picture, it is hidden until the site owner has looked at it. Each player can file up to 5 reports per hour.

What is BTCX?

BTCX is the coin of Bitcoin-PoCX, a fork of Bitcoin Core that is mined with hard disk space (proof of capacity) instead of processing power. kolonie.app accepts it for skins and pays small amounts of it as rewards. You don't need any to play.

How does the faucet work?

The faucet lives in the kolonie wallet: start the game from the wallet's Play button (another wallet's address works as kolonie.app/?btc= followed by the address). After 20 minutes with a colony in the dish, the site sends 300 satoshi (0.000003 BTCX) to that address, once per address and per network. The timer pauses while you have no colony, and a minute without steering sets it back to zero. Payouts go out in batches every 10 minutes, at most 100 per day across all players. A game with the faucet running shows no ads at all.

What is the daily streak?

Finish at least one round on seven days in a row, and being taken in counts as finishing; so does the daily challenge. The prize is 1,000,000 satoshi (0.01 BTCX), once per streak. You can play without an address: your browser keeps the streak, the Wallet button on the start screen shows it in the wallet, and a prize waits 30 days to be collected there.

Do I need a wallet?

Only for skins and rewards. The free kolonie wallet runs in your browser and is non-custodial: your keys are made and kept on your device and never reach the site. It also shows your faucet payouts and your daily streak. Any other BTCX wallet works as well.

Privacy and ads

Does kolonie use cookies?

The game works without any. Google Analytics and AdSense load only if you allow them in the consent banner, and the “Cookie settings” button changes your choice at any time. Details are in the privacy policy.

Why are there ads?

Servers cost money every month. Ads on the start and death screens pay for them, and they only appear if you have agreed to them.

How can I contact you or report a problem?

Write to the address in the Impressum, or join the community on Discord.